Follow @LBeasley313It was during last year’s Pizza Bowl that we saw the University of Pittsburgh beat Bowling Green State University with a final score of 30-27. However it was also during that time, that we learned that the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl at Detroit’s Ford Field was in doubt of surviving, since the Detroit Lions announced that they would host a new bowl at Ford Field in a six-year deal that begins this year.

Well, after plenty of speculation and patiently waiting, we now know the name of the new college football bowl game at Detroit’s Ford Field will be called the Quick Lane Bowl, which is named after Ford Motor Co.’s chain of more than 700 auto service outlets at Ford and Lincoln dealerships.

The team and company officials announced the deal at a Ford Field press conference Tuesday morning, stating that they had come to terms on a multi-year agreement with Ford Motor Company’s Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center designating Quick Lane as title sponsor for the annual bowl game held at Ford Field in Detroit, making the Lions only the second NFL team (after the Houston Texans) to host and operate a college football bowl game.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to support this valuable football tradition,” said Frederiek Toney, vice president, Ford Motor Company and president, Ford Customer Service. “With over 700 Quick Lanes available in communities across the U.S., we’re hoping to continue to raise awareness among consumers for the fast service, value and convenience our Quick Lanes deliver.”

The new game will obviously replace the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, which will not be played this year. While I’m sure there are plenty of people who may be upset about the Little Ceasars Pizza Bowl seeing that Pizza Bowl has had such great history and success here in Detroit, keep in mind that the Quick Lane Bowl has a lot to offer.

For starters, unlike the Little Ceasars Bowl, the Quick Lane Bowl game will feature teams from the Big Ten and ACC conferences. Then if that’s not enough, at the end of the season, officials from both conferences will meet with bowl officials to determine the best possible match-up and choose their team representatives, rather than use the an automatic tie-in based on conference finish that they used in the past.

Don’t worry about a change of the game-day date, because this year’s Quick Lane Bowl game is scheduled for Dec. 26, 2014 at 4:30 p.m and it will air nationally on ESPN.

“With a national platform to showcase the city of Detroit as well as Southeast Michigan football tradition, it was important for us to partner with an organization like Quick Lane who has a strong local and national presence,” said Detroit Lions President Tom Lewand. “We look forward to collaborating to institute a great bowl game tradition at Ford Field for years to come.”

I don’t know about you but I am excited about the Quick Lane Bowl. It brings a new type of football and atmosphere to Detroit and it gives local fans a possible chance to see Michigan or Michigan State on Ford Field turf, if the officials do indeed choose one of them to participate in the game at the end of the season.

I understand that there are some people who will miss the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl but I think the late John F. Kennedy said it best when he said that “change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

So if you don’t want to miss out on the future success of The Quick Lane Bowl, just know that tickets for the game will become available at 10 a.m. Thursday at quicklanebowl.com and at the Ford Field box office or by calling 877.212.8898.

Written by LBeasley (Lauren Beasley), Sports Contributor for Radio One Detroit